AP Governement Ch. 2 Termcards
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28 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 17th Amendment | Amendment adopted in 1913 that provided for the direct election of senators by their constituents. |
| 3/5s Compromise | Compromise made by Constitutional Convention to allow slaves to count as 3/5 of a person to count towards the population of a state for both representation and taxation |
| Anti-Federalists | Opponents of the American Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption. They argued that the constitution was a class based document, that it would erode fundamental liberties, and that it would weaken the power of the states. |
| Articles of Confederation | The first constitution of the U.S., adopted by congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781. The articles established a national legislature, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with the state legislatures. |
| Bicameral | A legislature divided into two houses. |
| Bill of Attainder | a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court. |
| Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to some of the Anti-Federalist concerns. |
| Checks and Balances | An important part of the Madisonian model designed to limit Government's power by requiring that power be balanced among the different governmental institutions. |
| Consent of the Governed | According to John Locke, the required basis for government. |
| Connecticut Compromise | The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress. |
| Constitution | A nation's basic law. It creates political institutions assigns or divides powers in government and often provides certain guarantees to citizens. |
| Equal Rights Amendment | A constitution amendment originally introduced in 1923 ad passed by congress in 1972 and sent to the state legislatures for ratification, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." |
| Ex post Facto Law | a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed. |
| Factions | Interest groups arising from the unequal distribution of property or wealth that James Madison attacked in Fed Paper No. 10. |
| Federalist Papers | A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madsion under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution in detail. |
| Federalists | Supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption. |
| Judicial Review | The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress, and by implication the executive, are in accordance with the U.S. Constitution. |
| Limited Government | The idea that certain things are out of bounds for government because of the natural rights of citizens. |
| Marbury v. Madison | The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. |
| Natural Rights | Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, ad property. |
| New Jersey Plan | The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population. |
| Republic | A form of government that derives its power, directly or indirectly, from the people. |
| Separation of Powers | An important part of the Madisonian model that requires each of the three branches of government- executive, legislative, and judicial- to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others. |
| Shays' Rebellion | this conflict in Massachusetts caused many to criticize the Articles of Confederation and admit the weak central government was not working; uprising led by Daniel Shays in an effort to prevent courts from foreclosing on the farms of those who could not pay the taxes. |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment. |
| Tyranny of the Majority | The potential of a majority to monopolize power for its own gain to the detriment of minority rights and interests. |
| Virginia Plan | The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state's share of the U.S. population. |
| Writ of Habeas Corpus | A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody. |
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